Exiles ace Robbie Willmott delighted to be back in action at Rodney Parade

NEWPORT County AFC fans were welcomed back to Rodney Parade on Tuesday for the first time since the beginning of January with a thrilling 3-2 win over third-placed Oxford United.

Weather permitting they host Cheltenham Town tomorrow with AFC Wimbledon the visitors on Tuesday and two more home games to come after that following six postponements since December 21.

Left wing-back Robbie Willmott admitted that the fixture schedule was beginning to become a concern for the team.

“There are times when were on the way to games and they’re getting called off,” he said.

“We’re like anyone else, we just want to play and when they’re getting postponed that means the backlog of games starts to go up and we’re starting to think we’ll be playing Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

“The backlog of games hasn’t been nice to us but has given us a chance with the (five) home games in a row.”

The victory on Tuesday also marked a first win of 2014 for the Exiles, who last managed a victory on Boxing Day, and the players are now looking forward to putting the postponement troubles behind them and getting their push for back-to-back promotions on track again.

County have only lost at home twice all season, a statistic that Willmott takes confidence from.

“We’ve got one of the best home records in the league so it gives us a nice platform to work off now,” he said ahead of tomorrow’s clash with the Robins.

“We always look back on last season (for inspiration). With all the home games, I’m hoping we can turn four out of five into wins.

“We were training before with 12 players, now players are getting left out of the squad, and they’re not young players being left out either, they’re experienced pros.

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“Everyone is playing for their places now and if they don’t have a good game they’ll be out of the next.”

With the return from injury of several key players, such as top scorer Chris Zebroski, and a string of home games to come, promotion is again looking an achievable target, with Willmott promising fans there will be “more to come” from him and the team.

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